In-Vitro Blood Brain Barrier Modeling Adapted for Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Transmigration from HIV-Positive Patients for Clinical Research on Therapeutic Drug-Intervention

摘要

ObjectiveHIV cognitive impairment (HACI) continues to persist for HIV-seropositive individuals who are on antiretroviral therapy (ART). HACI develops in part when HIV-infected monocytes (MO) transmigrate through the blood brain barrier (BBB) and secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines which leads to neuronal damage. In-vitro BBB models are important tools that can elucidate mechanisms of MO transmigration. Previously described in-vitro BBB models relied on pathology specimens resulting in potentially variable and inconsistent results. This project reports a reliable and consistent alternative in-vitro BBB model that has the potential to be used in clinical research intervention studies analyzing the effects of ART on the BBB and MO transmigration.